SHUNTING FATALITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19892, 10 March 1928, Page 13

SHUNTING FATALITY.

CONDITIONS IN THE YARDS.

BRAKING SYSTEM CRITICISED. RIDERS ADDED BY CORONER. * [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CHRISTCHURCH, Friday, Searching questions regarding the , methods of shunting used by the New Zealand t Railway Department were asked to-day when the inquest concerning the death cf Horace Gordon Grose, a shunter, who died after a mishap at the new Middleton marshalling yards on February 17, was continued before Mr. E. D. Mosley, S.M., coroner. Mr. A. T. Donnelly appeared for the Railway Department, Mr. C. S. Thomas for the shunter's council, Mr. W. F. Tracy for the relatives of deceased, and Mr. S. Schofield for the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. Frederick Ernest Taylor, who was ia charge of the shunting gang, stated that the waggon concei'ned in the fatality was an iron L.A., loaded and sheeted, the load being about 18in. above the top. He tested the brake before letting the truck down the hump. He did not see what happened. Mr. Thomas: Is it possible when two trucks are rolling as one the two brakes may be in the middle, and to stop them the shunter would have to jump in between them? —Yes. Handrail Should be Free. In reply to the coroner, witness said the handrail should be free. In M. waggons there was no handrail. Felix W. G. Riley, a shunter, stated that Grose swung on to the front end of the waggon. He had only one foot on the brake and his hand seemed to slip downwards. He appeared to know that he was slipping and it looked as he tried to throw himself backwards. Then his foot seemed to slip off the brake and he fell, the wheels going over both legs. The handrail was obscured except for about' 6in. at the bottom. To Mr. Thomas, witness said he had seen men racing for 15yds. to 20yds. and then grabbing at a tarpaulin and jumping on to a brake. He bad seen men doing that and having to jump between two trucks. Defining Limits of Inquiry.

Mr. Donnelly asked the coroner to de_ fine the limits'of the inquiry. It seemed to be as to the propriety of the practice of allowing a handrail to be wholly or partly covered by a tarpaulin. In this instance that is what seemed, to have been the cause of the accident/ The Coroner: Undoubtedly. 1 have formed that opinion subject to any other evidence that might be given. Aiter seeing the trucks in action, I am of the opinion that there is another question, that of the control of trucks from the hump. The coroner said that he was not sitting to inquire into the methods of the Railway Department, but he was not going to shelve any questions. John Alexander Teague, railway employee, gave evidence that between Christmas. 1927, and the present time, three men hid been killed by leading brakes and one man had been badly injured. Samuel Ernest Fay, operating equipment assistant on the New Zealand rail" ways, said he had had 15 years' practical experience in England, France, _ Canada and South America, and had studied conditions in other countries. The hump system at Middleton was modelled on the most up-to-date system in England. At & conference held in 1925 it was unanimously agreed that hump shunting was the safest arid most economical in existence. Witness had no objection to the New Zealand standard waggon, with a brake on the end. A brake could not be put on the side. The danger was that shunters would ride on side brakes and would meet with injuries going into sheds and platforms. Oo3t of Changing System.

As far as witness knew, no objection had been made on behalf of the shunters to the brake on the front of trucks. The alteration of braking system to put in an end to end brake would cost about £1,000,000, and, from his experience, he considered it would be more dangerons. Mr. Thomas: Do you agree that there should be a hand rail with a leading brake ?—Well, it is an assistance, certainly. Mr. Thomas: Do you think that a man can run across Middleton yards when a truck is going at 12 miles an hour, lean over and put on a brake ?—There is no necessity, they have shunting slipper brakes.

The coroner commented that the shunting slipper brake was very heavy for men to carry across the yard, Mr. Thomas: Braking as the men do without a handrail would be unsafe, and with a handrail covered by a tarpaulin it is unsafe ?—lt is. It should not be done. Mr. Thomas: I put it to you that there must be something wrong with the system or the administration when handrails are allowed to be covered ?—No. It cannot be changed. Comment by Coroner.

The Coroner: I am quite sure you have sufficient intelligence to suggest a method of sheeting those waggons and leaving the handrails free ? —>io, I am sorry, I cannot.

The Coroner: But I saw it. It can be done, and it must be done. There was, said the coroner, something wrong with the system of braking trucks at Middleton yards, and the department could he relied upon, he thought, to minimise the risk to shunters. They should have the very best conditions under which to work; The coroner returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidonce, and added the following riders: — " That the safety of shunters makes it necessary that tarpaulins on trucks shall be so tied as to leave the handrail free in order that it can be used for the purpose for which it is intended to safeguard life."

" That, in the opinion of the coroner, the system of shunting at Middleton yards should be improved so that reasonable means of control can be used without endangering human life."